JP6111441B2 - Tracking application usage in computing environments - Google Patents

Description

  Concerning application usage tracking.

  Computing environments in which users can create virtual computing devices or virtual machine instances are being used to perform increasingly diverse computing tasks. These instances are known as machine instances in a computing environment. A storage volume can also be created in a computing environment that operates as a mass storage device for use with a machine instance. For example, an application executed by a machine instance or a machine instance that requires a database, file system or other mass storage device can be linked to such storage capacity, which can be archived and restored. Is possible. Tracking application usage for licensing purposes is difficult in a computing environment because machine instances and storage volumes are created and destroyed.

  Help track application usage.

  One aspect is a system that includes at least one computing device and an application utilization service executable on the at least one computing device. The application usage service is logic to obtain a usage report over a network, the usage report indicating use of application installation on a machine instance in a computing environment, the machine instance Logic associated with a storage volume in the environment, logic for extracting an application identifier from the usage report, and logic for extracting a storage volume block identifier from the usage report, wherein the storage volume identifier is stored in the storage volume Associated with the logic and application identification in relation to the storage volume identifier in a data store in communication with at least one computing device Storing comprises a logic, a.

  Help track application usage.

FIG. 2 illustrates a network environment according to various embodiments of the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a user interface rendered by a client in the network environment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of various embodiments of the present invention of a user interface provided by a client in the network environment of FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of various embodiments of the present invention of functionality implemented as part of an application executed in a computing environment in the network environment of FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of various embodiments of the present invention of functionality implemented as part of an application executed in a computing environment in the network environment of FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of functionality implemented as part of an application usage service executed in a computing environment in the network environment of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram providing an example of a computing environment used in the network environment of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

  Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clarifying the principles of the invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

  Virtual machines in network accessible computing environments are increasingly used by users who desire computing resources on an on-demand basis. For example, a website may use virtual machines or machine instances, which are provided by a computing environment such as a server that generates and serves content to clients. In this sense, a machine instance is a virtual computing environment that can be configured with varying processing capabilities, graphics capabilities, memory resources, and the like. As another example of a scenario where machine instances can be utilized, a social networking service may use machine instances on an on-demand basis from a computing environment to provide the functionality of a social networking service. In either case, machine instances can be created, for example, provided by the computing environment as needed when access concentration occurs.

  As another example, a machine instance in a computing environment may perform large-scale computations or operations when the user may not have enough large-scale computing systems for the task desired by the user Can be used by the user. As yet another example, a machine instance in a computing environment can be used as a database server that can access relational or non-relational databases. In either scenario, a machine instance with processing power, memory resources, and other computing resources appropriate for the particular task the user is trying to accomplish can be requested. Other examples or uses of machine instances in a computing environment should be understood.

  In connection with machine instances in a computing environment, storage volumes of various sizes are used for mass storage. A storage volume can accompany a machine instance when the machine instance is created. In other words, a local storage volume can be created as part of a machine instance when the machine instance is created. Such local storage volumes do not remain after the associated machine instance is terminated. Thus, local storage volumes may be appropriate where data persistence is not a requirement of machine instance usage imposed by the user. A user can configure a machine instance to archive data generated, for example, by a machine instance in a data store outside of the computing environment or in a persistent storage service provided by the computing environment.

  In other scenarios, a storage volume that persists after the termination of the machine instance may be desired. Therefore, in some embodiments, the computing environment can be persistent on demand with various sizes, speeds, data durability, and other attributes that can withstand the termination and / or failure of a particular machine instance. A storage volume can be provided. Accordingly, such a storage volume can be used as a permanent mass storage device associated with a machine instance and requested by a user and accessible to the machine instance. Such storage volumes can be archived in a computing environment and reused in subsequent machine instances created on behalf of the user.

  For example, a machine instance can be associated with a storage volume, and then applications and other software can be installed and configured on the storage volume for use by the machine instance. In computing environments where machine instances can be created and / or terminated on a rapid basis or on-demand basis, tracking application usage for software licensing or billing purposes is not possible in computing environments. It can be a challenge for independent software vendors that provide software as a service, where the software is running on machine instances. In addition, the use of the tracking application is similar to other types of software that can sell or license software used for such computing environments on machine instances that use storage volumes provided by the computing environment. It can also be a challenge for vendors. In the following description, a general description of the system and its components is made in accordance with the same operational description.

  With reference to FIG. 1, a network environment 100 is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments. The network environment 100 includes a computing environment 101, a computing environment 103 and a client 104, which are in data communication with each other via a network 107. The network 107 can be, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wired network, a wireless network, or other suitable network, or two or more such networks. Including any combination of

  Computing environment 101 and computing environment 103 may each consist of, for example, a server computer or other system that provides computing capabilities. Alternatively, the computing environment 101 and / or the computing environment 103 uses multiple computing devices that can be located and used in one or more server banks or computer banks or other facilities. Is possible. Such computing devices may be located in a single facility or distributed across a number of different geographic locations. For example, computing environment 101 and / or computing environment 103 may include a plurality of computing devices with each other cloud computing resources, grid computing resources, and / or any other distributed computing device. Is possible. In some cases, computing environment 101 and / or computing environment 103 corresponds to an elastic computing resource in which the assigned capabilities of a process, network, storage device, or other computing-related resource may change over time. May be.

  In the non-limiting example of the network environment 100 shown in FIG. 1, the computing environment 103 refers to computing resources such as machine instances, storage volumes, storage services, and / or other computing resources. It means an environment that can be requested. Any computing environment may refer to multiple geographically disparate computing devices for load balancing, failover, and / or fault tolerance purposes. For example, any computing environment consists of clusters of computing devices located in various data centers across various regions, various server racks within each regional data center, and various networks. Also good.

  In accordance with various embodiments, various applications and / or other functionality are executed within the computing environment 101 and the computing environment 103. Various types of data are stored in data stores 111 and 112 that are accessible to the computing environment 101. Similarly, various types of data are stored in a data store 112 accessible to the computing environment 103 to facilitate the provision of computing resources and / or services required by the user. As will be apparent, the data store 111 and the data store 112 may represent a plurality of data stores. The data stored in the data store 111 and the data store 112 is related to the operations of the functional entities described below performed or provided by various applications and / or respective computing environments 101, 103.

  For example, components executing in the computing environment 103 include one or more machine instances 114 and / or storage volumes 115. In addition, other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein may also be executed in computing environment 103. As described above, computing environment 103 refers to an environment that provides computing resources, such as machine instances 114, storage volumes 115, and other computing resources or services, on demand or on demand. In some scenarios, the user may reserve computing resources exclusively in the computing environment 103 or set them aside.

  Machine instance 114 refers to a quantum of virtual machines or computing resources that a user can use to perform various computing tasks. Machine instance 114 may refer to one or more computing devices that execute one or more operating systems, user applications, services, and the like. In other words, the machine instance 114 comprises a virtualized instance of the operating system to facilitate execution of the execution application 117, service or other functionality. Each machine instance 114 can communicate with the virtualization layer and controls access to the hardware layer by each of the machine instances 114 running in the computing environment 103. Such a virtualization layer may further include a privileged domain. A privileged domain has a separate or higher level of user authority over other executed machine instances 114 to facilitate interaction between machine instances 114, hardware layers, or other components. A machine instance 114 may be included. A privileged domain may also consist of access restrictions that restrict the operation of the privileged domain to an authorized subset of users, such as a system administrator. The privileged domain 224 can facilitate the creation and management of machine instances.

  The hardware layer comprises various hardware components that facilitate the operation of machine instances 114 and their associated execution functionality, as referenced above. The hardware layer may include network interface cards, network routing components, processors, memory, storage, or other components, all of which are included in the specific machine instance 114 requested by the user. Provides the required computing capabilities as desired. For example, a machine instance 114 that requires a certain level of processing speed, input / output operational capabilities, and other performance attributes provides the computing device's underlying computing resources as a single hardware device to the virtualization layer. It can be implemented in a composite computing device through such a hardware layer.

  As described above, in some scenarios, the machine instance 114 can be configured with a local storage volume for mass storage. For example, applications executed by the machine instance 114 and data used can be stored on such a local storage volume. In other scenarios, the storage volume 115 may be requested or established by a computing environment 103 that is separate from the machine instance 114. In other words, the storage volume 115 is associated with the machine instance 114, and can be created so as to remain after the end of each machine instance 114 associated therewith. Accordingly, it should be understood that the scenario illustrated in FIG. 1 that includes storage volumes 115 that are outside of each machine instance 114 is merely one example of a configuration in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

  Accordingly, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, machine instance 114 is configured to execute one or more applications 117. Application 117 refers to software sold or licensed by an independent software vendor or other entity for use within machine instance 114 in computing environment 103. In other words, the application 117 means software installed in the storage volume 115 and used in the machine instance 114. Therefore, various copies and installations of the application 117 can have an application identifier 119.

  Application identifier 119 means an identifier that uniquely identifies a copy of application 117 relative to other copies of application 117. In other words, application identifier 119 means a product code or other type of identifier that can be used by a software vendor to uniquely identify application 117. It should be understood that in some scenarios, such as bulk or multi-user licenses, multiple copies of application 117 can be configured with the same application identifier 119. In such a scenario, the software vendor will track the usage of the application 117 in the computing environment 103 to determine whether usage complies with the terms of the bulk license or multi-user license agreement. Can hope. Application 117 may include any software, logic, services, or other functionality that executes within machine instance 114 of computing environment 103. Examples of application 117 may include web applications, web services, server applications, or other functionality.

  The storage volume 115 means a mass storage resource that can access the machine instance 114. In some embodiments, storage volume 115 refers to a network accessible storage volume and provides a file system or block level storage volume for use with machine instance 114 in computing environment 103. Storage volume 115 consists of storage volume block data 124, which means storage blocks in storage volume 115 for use by application 117 executed by the operating system of machine instance 114 or by the corresponding machine instance. For example, a machine instance 114 is created and stored in the storage volume 115 to meet the mass storage needs of the machine instance 114, such as application storage, data storage, cache file storage, operating system usage, or other possible use. It is possible to associate.

  Also, the storage volume 115 is composed of one or more storage volume block identifiers 127, which represent identifiers that are written to or associated with actual storage blocks within the storage volume 115. In some embodiments, the storage volume 115 may be configured with a storage volume identifier that uniquely identifies the other storage volume 115 within the computing environment 103. In other embodiments, the storage volume block identifier 127 is stored in other storage volumes 115 in the computing environment 115 relative to other storage blocks in the storage volume block data 124 and one or more storages in the storage volume 115. Blocks can be uniquely identified. The storage volume 115 is also configured to provide the storage volume block identifier 127 or such storage volume identifier to the corresponding machine instance 114 upon request. In some embodiments, the storage volume block identifier 127 uniquely identifies one or more storage blocks within the storage volume 115, or storage volume 115 relative to other storage volumes 115. Can be stored in one or more storage blocks in the storage volume 115 with which it is associated.

  The machine instance 114 can also be configured using a usage application programming interface (API) 129, which includes a software library, and the use of the application 117 is a software library as described in more detail below. Can be reported through. The usage API 129 is configured to obtain the application identifier 119 for the given application 117 and the block identifier 127 or storage volume identifier of the storage volume on which the application 117 is installed in place of the machine instance 114, both identifiers Is reported to the service that tracks the usage status of the application 117. The usage API 129 also obtains an identifier associated with the machine instance 114 executing the application 117 as well as any other metadata associated with the environment configured with the application 117 installed for tracking purposes. It can be constituted as follows. Data obtained using the usage API 129 can be reported to track usage of the application 117.

  Usage API 129 may be implemented as a software library accessible via one or more API calls to application 117 executed by machine instance 114 or as a standalone process executed by machine instance 114. In some embodiments, usage API 129 refers to a stand-alone service implemented as a network accessible service accessed via a web service call by application 117. As described above, the operation of the usage status API 129 and the service for tracking the usage status of the application 117 will be described in more detail below.

  The data store 112 of the computing environment 103 refers to one or more mass storage systems or devices that can archive data. Data store 112 refers to a plurality of computing devices installed in various geographic areas and various data centers for data storage and data durability. In the context of this disclosure, the data stored in the data store 112 includes, for example, a storage volume archive 134 corresponding to the storage volume 115. Each storage volume archive 134 includes archive block data 136, which means storage volume block data 124 corresponding to a particular storage volume 115. Each of the storage volume archives 134 also includes one or more archived identifiers 138 corresponding to the storage volume identifier 127 and / or the identifier associated with the storage volume 115.

  In this way, the storage volume 115 can be archived at the end of the corresponding machine instance 114, but the storage volume block identifier 127 and the storage volume block data 124 corresponding to the storage volume 115 are restored to the new storage volume 115. This new storage volume 115 can be created by the computing environment 103 if requested by a user or machine instance 114. However, if the contents of the storage volume 115 are copied to the newly created second storage volume 115, the second storage volume must have a block identifier 127 of a different storage volume. .

  For example, components executed in the computing environment 101 include an application usage service 141. In addition, other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein may also be executed in computing environment 101. The application usage service 141 is executed to track the usage of the application 117 within the computing environment 103.

  The API 129 to be used generates a usage status report 147 including at least the application identifier 119 and the block identifier 127 of the storage volume associated with the storage volume 115 in which the application 117 is installed. The usage report 147 includes an identifier associated with the machine instance 114 executing the application 117, an identifier associated with the software vendor, a geography associated with the machine or cluster of machines on which the machine instance 114 and / or the storage volume 115 is executing. Other information such as information and metadata may be included. The usage status API 129 can be called to generate a usage status report 147 when the application 117 is installed by an installer utility associated with the application 117.

  The usage status report 147 can be generated by using the usage status API 129 when called by the application 117 when the application 117 is started. For example, when the application 117 is started, the application 117 determines whether the application is installed in a specific storage volume 115 (eg, via a flag that is set or written to the storage volume 115 by the application 117). It can be determined whether it has been reported before. If the installation has not been reported before, the application 117 can request that the API 129 generate a usage report 147 and send the usage report to the usage service 141.

  The application usage service 141 acquires the usage status report 147 generated using the usage status API 129. The application usage service 141 extracts the application identifier 119 and the storage volume block identifier 127 from the usage status report 147, and stores the data from the usage status report 147 in the data store 111. In addition, the application usage service 141 obtains other information such as an identifier associated with the machine instance 114 executing the application 117 from the usage status report 147 or other information related to the machine instance 114 and the storage volume 115 from the computing environment. Metadata can be extracted and stored in the data store 111.

  The data stored in the data store 111 includes, for example, usage data 148, where each record corresponding to the usage data 148 includes a storage volume block identifier 149, an application identifier 151, and potentially others. Is included. As described above, the application usage service 141 stores usage data 148 in response to installing the application 117 on the machine instance 114 and receiving a usage report 147 corresponding to the storage volume 115 in the computing environment 103. Can do.

  Client 104 is representative of a plurality of client devices that can connect to network 107. Client 104 may include a processor-based system, such as a computer system, for example. Such computer systems include desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, smartphones, set-top boxes, music players, web pads, tablet computer systems, game consoles, ebook readers, or similar functions It can be implemented in the form of other devices.

  Client 104 may be configured to execute various applications, such as client application 157 and / or other applications. Client application 157 may be executed within client 104 to access network content provided by computing environment 101 and / or other servers, for example. The client application 157 can correspond to, for example, a browser or a mobile application. Client application 157 allows a user to access usage data 148 corresponding to a particular application 117 running within computing environment 103. Client 104 may be configured to execute applications beyond client application 157, such as, for example, email applications, social networking applications, and / or other applications.

  Next, a general description of the operation of the various components of the network environment 100 will be described. First, an application 117 that is executed by a machine instance 114 in association with a storage volume 115 in the computing environment 103 uses its usage via the usage report 147 generated using the usage API 129 as described above. It can be configured to report to the application usage service 141. In some embodiments, application 117 may be loaded via usage API 129 to report its usage. In other embodiments, when a particular application 117 is installed and / or executed, another service executed by the machine instance 114 can be monitored. The usage report 147 is periodically (e.g., every time the application 117 is executed) (e.g., by an installer utility associated with the application 117) each time the application 117 is installed on the machine instance 114 and the storage volume 115. , Weekly, monthly, execution for each variable N), or any other frequency. Accordingly, the application 117 can request that the API 129 generate a usage report 147 corresponding to the installation and / or use of the application 117. Such a request may include an application identifier 119 associated with the application as well as a block identifier 127 for the storage volume associated with the storage volume 115 in which the application 117 is installed.

  The usage status API 129 can incorporate the application identifier 119 and / or the block identifier 127 of the storage volume in the usage status report 147 sent to the usage service 141 of the application. Application 117 can provide other data in its request to usage API 129 to generate usage report 147. For example, in the computing environment 103 as described above, an identifier associated with a machine instance 114 that uniquely identifies the machine instance 114 relative to other machine instances 114 can be incorporated into a request to the usage API 129 and thereafter Can be incorporated into the usage report 147. As an additional example, an identifier associated with a vendor separate from application identifier 119 may also be incorporated into usage report 147.

  The usage status API 129 then transmits a usage status report 147 to the usage service 141 of the application. In some implementations, the usage API 129 can authenticate itself via a security certificate or other authentication credentials provided to the manufacturer of the application. Next, the application usage service 141 can store the data extracted from the usage status report 147 in the data storage device 111 as usage data 148. The application usage service 141 can also generate a user interface that is sent to the client application 157 executed by the client 104, where the user uses usage data associated with a particular application 117, a particular application identifier 119. It is possible to browse a particular software vendor, or any other category in which usage data 148 can be sorted. The application usage service 141 can generate report data that is sent to the client 104 for viewing by the client application 157 in other forms besides the user interface rendered by the client application 157.

  FIGS. 2-3 illustrate a user interface that can be generated by the application usage service 141 and rendered on the client 104. The illustrated user interface incorporates usage data 148 obtained from the data store 111 by an application usage service 141 from a usage report 147 associated with the execution and / or installation of a particular application 117 in the computing environment 103.

  FIG. 2 shows a user interface 201 generated by the application usage service 141 and rendered on the client 104 by the client application 157. FIG. 2 shows a typical network page provided by the application usage service 141 or any other application that has access to usage data 149 for rendering by the browser client application 157 running on the client 104. Yes. As another aspect, FIG. 2 illustrates a typical user interface rendered by a dedicated client application 157. In the illustrated embodiment, the user interface 201 includes usage information from the computing environment 103 associated with the application 203. The user interface 201 in the illustrated embodiment can be accessed using a uniform resource locator (URL) 205 that is accessed by a browser executed by the client 104. The illustrated example of a report accessible by the browser of the usage data 148 associated with the application 117 is merely an example that the application usage service 141 can provide usage data 148 to the client 104 in other formats. It should be understood that it is only.

  Therefore, as shown in the user interface 201 of FIG. 2, the application usage service 141 includes the computing identifier included in the usage status report 147 by the respective application identifier 151, storage volume block identifier 149, and usage status API 129. Usage data 148 may be obtained for a particular application 117 that includes other information related to a particular installation and / or execution of application 117 within machine instance 114 of environment 103. In addition, the interface 201 can allow a user to view detailed information regarding a particular installation and / or execution of the application 117 via the details hyperlink 214, for example, Metadata such as execution time, installation date, or any other metadata related to usage included in usage report 147 associated with application 117 may be provided.

  FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a user interface 301 generated by the application usage service 141 and rendered on the client 104 by the client application 157. FIG. 3 may be representative of application usage service 141 or any other application that has access to usage data 149 for rendering by browser client application 157 running on client 104. Alternatively, FIG. 3 may be representative of a user interface rendered by the dedicated client application 157. In the example of FIG. 3, as shown in lines 302 and 304, usage data 148 reflects the multiple installations and / or executions of application 117 having the same application identifier 119.

  However, these multi-installations and / or executions of applications 117 are associated with block identifiers 127 of different storage volumes, which, depending on the license agreement, allow authorized installation and execution of applications 117 to be performed by a computer. Can be shown to be happening within the computing environment 103. Accordingly, unauthorized use of the application 117 and / or use of the application outside the scope of the license agreement may result in usage of the application 117 and storage volume in the computing environment relative to the application identifier 119 associated with product installation. It can be detected by tracking the identifier associated with 115.

  4-5, the illustrated provides an example of the operation of a portion of an application 117 that reports usage and / or installation via a usage API 129, according to various embodiments. It is a flowchart. The flowcharts of FIGS. 4-5 may provide just one example of the many different types of functional configurations that can be used to perform some operations of application 117 as described herein. Understood. Alternatively, the flowcharts of FIGS. 4-5 may be recognized as illustrating one example of method steps performed in the computing environment 103 (FIG. 1) in accordance with one or more embodiments.

  Beginning with box 401 in FIG. 4, application 117 or the installer utility of application 117 installs a copy of application 117 in storage volume 115 associated with machine instance 114 running application 117. As part of the installer utility workflow, the application 117 can be configured to report its installation on a particular storage volume 115 in connection with a particular machine instance 114. In box 403, the application 117 obtains the block identifier 127 of the storage volume associated with the storage volume 115 and / or one or more blocks in the storage volume 115 where the application 117 is installed. In box 405, application 117 obtains application identifier 119 associated with a copy of application 119 installed in storage volume 115. In box 407, the application 117 generates a usage status report 147 for reporting the installation of the application to the application usage service 141 via the usage status API 129.

  FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of an application 117 that reports its usage and / or installation via usage API 129. In box 501, a copy of application 117 stored in storage volume 115 is executed on machine instance 114 in a computing environment. In box 503, the application 117 is required to report whether its usage and / or installation has been previously reported, and the current usage and installation according to the configured reporting schedule of the application 117. Determine whether.

  Otherwise, the part of the application 117 that reports the usage status to the application usage service 141 ends. If so, then in box 505, the application 117 identifies the storage volume block identifier 127 associated with the storage volume 115 and / or one or more blocks in the storage volume 115 where the application 117 is installed. get. In box 507, the application 117 acquires an application identifier 119 associated with a copy of the application 119 installed in the storage volume 115. In box 509, via the usage status API 129, the application 119 generates a usage status report 147, which reports application installation to the application usage service 141. Thereafter, a part of the application 117 ends.

  Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of a portion of an application usage service 141 according to various embodiments. The flowchart of FIG. 6 merely provides an example among many different types of functional configurations that can be used to perform some operations of application usage service 141 as described herein. It is understood that As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 6 may be viewed as an example of method steps performed in a computing environment 101 according to one or more embodiments.

  Beginning with box 601, the application usage service 141 receives a usage report 147 from the computing environment 103 via the application 117 in the machine instance 114 and / or the API 129 used. In box 603, the application usage status service 141 extracts the application identifier 151 from the usage status report 147. In box 605, the application usage status service 141 extracts the block identifier 149 of the storage volume from the usage status report. In box 607, the application usage status service 141 stores the block identifier 149 and the application identifier 151 of the storage volume as usage data 148 in the data store 111.

Embodiments of the present invention can be described in terms of the following clauses.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium that embodies a program executable on a computing device:
Code that provides an application program interface that defines network service calls to facilitate the sending of usage reports;
Code obtained via an application program interface for usage reports associated with at least one of executing or installing an application on a machine instance in a computing environment, wherein the machine instance is stored in a storage volume in the computing environment. The code where the application is installed on the storage volume,
Code that extracts an application identifier from a usage report, wherein the application identifier is uniquely associated with one installation of the application relative to other installations of the application;
A code for extracting a storage volume block identifier from a usage report, wherein the storage volume block identifier is uniquely associated with the storage volume relative to other storage volumes in the computing environment, and the storage volume block identifier Is a code that is more uniquely associated with one of the storage blocks relative to other storage blocks in the storage volume;
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code for storing an application identifier in association with a storage block volume identifier in a data store.
2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of clause 1, wherein the program further comprises code for generating a user interface that renders a plurality of usage reports associated with the application.
3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of clause 1, wherein the program further comprises:
Code that extracts a machine instance identifier from a usage report, wherein the machine instance identifier is a code that is uniquely associated with a machine instance relative to other machine instances in a computing environment, and a machine instance identifier A non-transitory computer readable medium according to clause 1, comprising a code associated with an application identifier within the storage volume and a block identifier of a storage volume.
4). A system,
At least one computing device;
An application usage service executable on at least one computing device, the application usage service comprising:
Logic for obtaining a usage report over a network, wherein the usage report indicates the use of an application installation on a machine instance in a computing environment and the machine instance is associated with a storage volume in the computing environment When,
Logic to extract application identifiers from usage reports;
Logic for extracting a storage volume block identifier from a usage report, wherein the storage volume identifier is associated with a storage volume;
And a logic for storing an application identifier in association with a storage volume identifier in a data store in communication with at least one computing device.
5. The system of clause 4, wherein the block identifier of the storage volume uniquely identifies the storage volume relative to other storage volumes in the computing environment.
6). The system of clause 4, wherein the block identifier of the storage volume uniquely identifies at least one block within the storage volume.
7). The system according to clause 4, wherein the block identifier of the storage volume is stored in at least one block of storage in the storage volume.
8). The system of clause 4, wherein the usage report is received over a network from an installer utility executed by a machine instance associated with the application.
9. The system of clause 8, wherein the installer utility is configured to install an application on a storage volume in a computing environment.
10. The system of clause 8, wherein the application is uniquely associated with the copy of the installer utility relative to other copies of the installer utility associated with the application.
11. The system of clause 4, wherein the usage report is received over a network from an external service of an application executing in the computing environment.
12 The system according to clause 4, wherein the application use service further includes:
Logic that extracts machine instance identifiers from usage reports, where the machine instance identifier is associated with the logic associated with the machine instance,
And a system for storing a machine instance identifier in association with an application identifier and a storage volume identifier.
13. The system of clause 4, wherein the application usage service further comprises logic for authenticating the application based at least in part on a security certificate issued on behalf of the application usage service.
14 An application identifier is associated with the software vendor, the application usage service further comprises logic for generating a user interface associated with the software vendor, the user interface including at least one usage report associated with the application identifier. The system according to clause 4.
15. A method,
Running an application in a machine instance in a computing environment by at least one computing device and configuring the application to utilize a storage volume in the computing environment;
Identifying an application identifier associated with execution of the application by at least one computing device;
A method comprising identifying a storage volume identifier associated with a storage volume by at least one computing device and generating a usage report that includes an application identifier and a storage volume identifier by the at least one computing device.
16. The method further comprises sending a usage report to an application usage service executed by at least one other computing device over the network, wherein the application usage service stores the usage report in a data store. The method according to clause 15, wherein
17. The method of clause 16, further comprising authenticating the application with an application usage service via a security certificate.
18. 16. The method of clause 15, wherein usage report generation is performed via an application programming interface (API) provided by a software library accessible to at least one computing device.
19. The method of clause 15, wherein generating the usage report is performed in a process performed by at least one computing device external to the application.
20. 16. The method of clause 15, wherein generating the usage report is performed by an installer utility associated with the application.
21. 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the storage volume identifier uniquely identifies the storage volume relative to other storage volumes in the computing environment.
22. 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the storage volume identifier uniquely identifies at least one block within the storage volume.
23. 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the storage volume identifier is stored in at least one block in the storage volume.
24. Furthermore,
16. The method of clause 15, comprising identifying a machine instance identifier associated with a machine instance and including the machine instance identifier in a usage report.

  Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which shows a schematic block diagram of a computing environment 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computing environment 101 includes one or more computing devices 701. Each computing device 701 includes, for example, at least one processor circuit having a processor 702 and a memory 704, which are connected to a local interface 707. To accomplish this goal, each computing device 701 may comprise, for example, at least one server computer or similar device. As can be appreciated, the local interface 707 may comprise, for example, a data bus with an attached address / control bus or other bus structure.

  Stored in memory 704 are both the data and some components executable by processor 702. Specifically, what is stored in the memory 704 and can be executed by the processor 702 is an application usage service 141 and potentially other applications. Similarly, what is stored in the memory 704 may be a data store 111 that stores usage data 148 and other data. The operating system may also be stored in the memory 704 and executable by the processor 702.

  As will be appreciated, it is understood that there may be other applications stored in the memory 704 that can be executed by the processor 702. If any of the components discussed herein are implemented in software, any one of a number of programming languages can be used, for example, C, C ++, C #, Objective C, Java. JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Flash®, or other programming languages may be used.

  A number of software components are stored in memory 704 and executed by processor 702. In this regard, the term “executable” means a program file that is ultimately in a form that can be operated by the processor 702. Examples of executable programs include, for example, a compiled program that can be loaded into a random access portion of memory 704 and converted into machine code in a form that can be executed by processor 702, memory 704. Source code that can be loaded into the random access portion of the program and represented in an appropriate format, such as object code executable by the processor 702, or instructions to the random access portion of the memory 704 to be executed by the processor 702 Source code that is translated by another executable program to be generated. Executable programs are, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk drive, solid state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD). May be stored on any portion or component of memory 704 including a simple optical disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other memory component.

  Memory 704 includes both volatile and non-volatile and is defined as a data storage component. Volatile components are those that do not retain data when power is lost. Non-volatile components are those that retain data even when power is lost. Thus, the memory 704 can be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, a USB flash drive, a memory card accessed via a memory card reader, or an associated floppy disk drive. A floppy disk accessed via a disk, an optical disk accessed via an optical disk drive, a magnetic tape accessed via a suitable tape drive, and / or other memory components, or any two of these memory components Or you may comprise in the combination beyond it. In addition, the RAM may comprise, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or other similar memory device. .

  Further, the processor 702 may mean a multiprocessor 702 and / or a multiprocessor core, and the memory 704 may mean a multimemory 704 that operates on a parallel processing circuit. In such a case, the local interface 707 facilitates communication between any two of the multiprocessors 702, between any processor 702 and any memory 704, or between any two of the memory 704, and the like. Can be an appropriate network. The local interface 707 includes, for example, load balancing and can include additional systems designed to coordinate this communication. The processor 702 may be electrical or some other available structure.

  Application usage service 141 and the various other systems described herein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardware, as described above, but alternatively the same is dedicated to Or a combination of software / general-purpose hardware and dedicated hardware. When embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be embodied as a circuit or state machine that uses any one or combination of many technologies. These techniques include discrete logic circuits with logic gates to perform various logic functions upon application of one or more data signals, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with appropriate logic gates, field programmable gates. An array (FPGA) or other components may be included, but is not limited thereto. Such techniques are generally well known to those skilled in the art and are therefore not described in detail herein.

  The flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 6 show the functionality and operation of part of the application 117 that uses the usage status API 129 and the usage status service 141. When implemented in software, each block may refer to a module, a segment, or a portion of code that includes program instructions for implementing a specified logical function (s). Program instructions are machine code that includes numerical instructions that are recognizable by a suitable execution system, such as a processor 702 in a computer system or other system, in the form of source code consisting of statements readable by a human in a programming language It may be embodied in the form of The machine code may be converted from source code or the like. When implemented in hardware, each block means a circuit for implementing the specified logical function (s) or a number of interconnected circuits.

  Although the flowcharts of FIGS. 4-6 illustrate a particular order of execution, it will be understood that the order of execution may differ from that shown. For example, the execution order of two or more blocks may be scrambled with respect to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shown in succession in FIG. 5 may be executed simultaneously or partially simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, one or more blocks shown in FIGS. 4-6 can be skipped or omitted. Also, add any number of counters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages to the logic flow described herein for the purpose of providing utility augmentation, billing, performance measurement, or troubleshooting assistance. It is also possible. Such variations are within the scope of the present invention.

  Also, any logic or applications described herein, including software or code, may be used by or in connection with, for example, an instruction execution system such as processor 702 of a computer system, or other system. For non-transitory computer readable media. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, a statement containing instructions and declarations that can be taken from a computer readable medium and executed by an instruction execution system. In the context of the present invention, a “computer readable medium” contains, stores, or retains the logic or applications described herein for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. It can be any medium that can

  Computer-readable media can include any of a number of physical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of suitable computer readable media would include magnetic tape, magnetic floppy disk, magnetic hard drive, memory card, solid state drive, USB flash drive, or optical disk. It is not limited. Similarly, the computer readable medium may be random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Further, the computer readable medium may be a read only memory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or other memory device It may be a type.

  It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the spirit of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the embodiment (s) described above without substantially departing from the spirit and spirit of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention and protected by the following claims.

Claims (15)

A system,
At least one computing device;
An application utilization service executable on at least one of the computing devices;
Including
When the application utilization service is executed, the at least one computing device is:
By the application utilizing the service, it acquires the usage reports via the network,
The usage reports provided through an application program interface, shows the use of applications that are installed on the virtual machine instance in a computing environment, the virtual machine instance is associated with a storage volume in the computing environment,
The usage report is generated on the virtual machine instance,
Each time the application is installed, it is sent over the network to the application usage service to track usage of the application,
By the application utilizing the service, extracting the application identifiers defined in the usage report,
The application identifier uniquely identifies a copy of the application installed on the virtual machine instance of the computing environment;
By the application utilizing the service, extracting the storage volume block identifier defined in the usage report, the storage volume block identifiers associated with the storage volume, the application is installed in the storage volume,
Wherein the application used service, stores the application identifier in connection with the storage volume block identifier in the data store in communication with at least one computer device,
system.   The system of claim 1, wherein the storage volume block identifier uniquely identifies the storage volume relative to other storage volumes in the computing environment. The system of claim 1, wherein the usage report is received over a network from an installer utility executed on the virtual machine instance associated with the application.   The system of claim 3, wherein the installer utility is configured to install the application on the storage volume in the computing environment.   The system of claim 1, wherein the usage report is received over a network from an external service of the application running in the computing environment. The application use service is:
Logic to extract a machine instance identifier from the usage report, wherein the machine instance identifier is associated with the virtual machine instance;
Logic to store the machine instance identifier in association with the application identifier and the storage volume block identifier;
Further including
The system of claim 1.   The system of claim 1, wherein the application usage service further includes logic to authenticate the application based at least in part on a security certificate issued on behalf of the application usage service.   The application identifier is associated with a software vendor, and the application utilization service further comprises logic for generating a user interface associated with the software vendor, the user interface comprising at least one associated with the application identifier. The system of claim 1, comprising a usage report. A method,
At least one computing device executing an application in a virtual machine instance in the computing environment, the application configured to utilize a storage volume in the computing environment;
Providing a software process outside the application;
The software process is running on the virtual machine instance;
At least one computing device identifies an application identifier that uniquely identifies one of the executions of the application in the virtual machine instance with respect to other executions of the application;
The application is installed on the storage volume of the computing environment;
At least one computing device identifies a storage volume identifier associated with the storage volume on which the application is installed ;
A software process running on the virtual machine instance monitors usage data corresponding to the application;
The usage data is based at least on execution time;
Wherein the software process running on the virtual machine instance, the and use data, and the application identifier, to generate usage reports containing, said storage volume identifier,
Sending the usage report over a network in response to each execution of the application;
Said method.   And sending the usage report to an application usage service executed by at least one other computing device over a network, the application usage service storing the usage report in a data store. The method of claim 9, wherein   The method of claim 10, comprising authenticating the application with the application usage service via a security certificate.   The method of claim 9, wherein generating the usage report is performed via an application programming interface (API) provided by a software library accessible to at least one of the computing devices.   The method of claim 9, wherein generating the usage report is performed in a process performed by at least one computing device external to the application.   The method of claim 9, wherein the storage volume identifier is stored in at least one storage block within the storage volume. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
Identifying a machine instance identifier associated with the virtual machine instance;
Including the machine instance identifier in the usage report;
The method of claim 9, comprising: